I got an “interesting” email sent to my edu account this morning from an IT firm looking for new project leads in higher education.
The email was addressed to an account that’s not displayed on my college website and my institution has never done business with this company – at least to my knowledge – , so my email address must have been picked up from one of the higher ed listservs – which means you probably got it, too.
In case you didn’t, here it is (minus anything that could identify the sender):
“To all our Higher Education contacts,
We have […] consultants/contractors on the bench and I’m trying to get creative in order to find work for them. I’m offering a trip to the Caribbean, St. Lucia, to anyone who can refer me to an institution of higher ed that might be able to use one of our people.”
As I disclosed in my profile, I also have a small business providing web solutions and consulting services (I only work part-time for my college).
In business, referrals are definitely the best way to get new clients, and it’s always a good idea to thank people who provides you with qualified leads… After all, such thank-you gifts are just marketing expenses.
So, I think this message was fair game (probably a bit generous, but why not?) until the following line:
“Of course the referral must lead to one of our consultants getting work.”
Do you think this kind of offers – 3 days vacations with air for 2 – should be made to potential decision makers – I’m not, but I bet some recipients of this mass email are – in the IT department of your college or university ?
